Let's check out how Laurent Mekies got Max Verstappen involved in fixing Red Bull after Christian Horner got the boot.

Let's rewind to early 2025. Max Verstappen is still the champ, and things at Red Bull look pretty chill from the outside.

The Horner/Marko drama has died down, and everyone's focused on one thing: winning a fifth title in a row.

But during winter testing, it's clear it won't be a cakewalk. Verstappen's new car, the RB21, still has the same problems as the 2024 model, and McLaren has built a seriously good car.

Verstappen wins in Japan and Imola, but by summertime, the title is slipping away. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are just too fast.

One problem is that Red Bull's old wind tunnel doesn't match what's happening on the track.

Verstappen and his engineers are tweaking the car all weekend, when they should be fast right from the first practice.

Verstappen can still pull off amazing qualifying laps with a crazy setup, but he's not always a factor in the races. Red Bull is having a hard time finding that perfect balance that McLaren seems to nail.

Verstappen's Important Role

So, Red Bull shakes things up, fires Christian Horner, and brings in Laurent Mekies. Horner takes the blame for the team's so-so results, and Mekies wastes no time switching things up.

It's soon obvious that Mekies wants to focus on driver feedback, not just rely on the simulator and wind tunnel.

Mekies put Verstappen in a key role ASAP. At Monza, Red Bull gave the car a floor upgrade, and even though technical director Pierre Wache had some doubts, Verstappen got to run a really aggressive setup.

It worked! He scored a big win and started a huge comeback, only missing the title by two points to Norris.

More than that, Verstappen got more say in the team. Mekies saw that some things weren't working and used 2025 to fix them.

Because Red Bull is running better with this new approach, they're in better shape for the 2026 rule changes.

Red Bull still needs to build a fast car, but now they know how to get the most out of it. Verstappen's feedback—and Isack Hadjar's—will be super important for building a good base and making quick setup changes when needed.

Even with the changes, it wasn't always easy in the second half of 2025, but Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were more willing to push the car hard in practice.

This lets the team make changes faster and see results. That's how Red Bull transformed things, and it should pay off in 2026, with Verstappen playing a big part.

Mark Rushbrook, Ford Motorsport's global director, gave an update on Red Bull's engine for the 2026 F1 rules, which is good news for Max Verstappen.

Red Bull is making its own engines for the first time in F1, instead of getting them from someone like Honda. Ford is there to help with tech stuff, and their partnership seems to be going well.

Since Red Bull has never powered an F1 car before, this is a big step into the unknown, and it could be risky for Verstappen.

The guy might have a bad season if Red Bull can't figure out how to make a good F1 engine right away.

The private test next month in Barcelona will be the first real look at the engine for Red Bull and Ford. Rushbrook says things are going as they planned.

Rushbrook told Motorsport.com that they are on schedule, but they won't know for sure until the car hits the track. That will be a big day and week, and they will see if the last three years of work paid off.

Even though things are moving forward, Ford is still a bit nervous. Rushbrook said that they can only learn so much from the test data so far.

Rushbrook admitted that they always get a little nervous when a car or engine goes out on the track for the first time.

He added that their computer tools are good for designing stuff, and their labs are good for working on the hardware, but they won't know everything until they put it all together on the track.

They can test a lot in their virtual setup, but they don't know if they will see things on the track that they couldn't see in the labs.

Red Bull-Ford Goals 'Met'

Rushbrook said that Ford and Red Bull have met the goals they set for their F1 engine at the start.

Now, they're focusing on how the engine drives, which Rushbrook said is super important for the new F1 engines.

When asked what parts of the new engine will be most important, Rushbrook said it's about power, performance, reliability, and how it drives.

He said that they've met their goals and that they're now working on how the engine drives and calibrating it.

They can do some of that with computers, some in the lab, and some with drivers in the simulator. That's what they're working on now.

A lot is still unknown for every F1 engine maker when it comes to the 2026 rules, which are the biggest changes ever in the sport.

This has made it hard to set goals.

Rushbrook said that everyone is trying to do the same thing; he thinks

Rushbrook said that their goals are based on the rules that everyone has to follow.

From there, they can figure out what's possible, and that's their goal. So, he thinks everyone has been trying to do the same thing.

Since everyone is dealing with the same physics, all the engineers probably came up with similar ideas.